Astros' late rally not enough to overcome A's

An outing that lasted only 32⁄3 innings for Astros starter Brad Peacock included giving up a three-run homer to Yoenis Cespedes, left, in the second inning on Wednesday night.

Photo: STF

OAKLAND, Calif. - Brad Peacock waded into trouble early again Wednesday night, this time with a longer leash. Now his job in the rotation may be tenuous.

The Oakland Athletics tagged Peacock for three home runs during a 9-7 victory in a game that for most of the night appeared headed for an A's blowout before a late Astros rally.

Two of Oakland's long balls were slugged by Home Run Derby champion Yoenis Cespedes, one to center, the second a tremendous crack to left field. The other homer Peacock allowed went to right field off the bat of Bo Porter-antagonist Jed Lowrie - a player for whom Peacock was once traded.

The Astros trailed 8-1 after five innings, but for any night owls in Houston, there was reason to listen late.

Oakland starter Jesse Chavez didn't allow a hit until Matt Dominguez's lined single to left with one out in the fifth inning. But when the A's put reliever Jim Johnson in for the eighth inning, the Astros perked up.

Johnson was the A's closer at the start of the season, but his time in Oakland has been a disaster. Entering with a 9-2 lead, Johnson heard plenty of boos as he coughed up four runs (three earned) without recording an out. His ERA ballooned to 6.92.

In all, the Astros scored five runs in the frame, which included a Chris Carter RBI double. Their largest comeback this season was just four runs, and they were two runs down heading to the ninth.

Sean Doolittle, the lefty All-Star who has taken over as A's closer, shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The hole was too deep too early.

A member of the rotation all season long, Peacock's walk count seems to be catching up to him. He issued five free passes in 32⁄3 innings and allowed seven runs. He's the only Astros pitcher, reliever or starter, to average more than four walks per nine innings.

The righthander was pulled after recording just one out in his last start before the All-Star break (July 13) and was unhappy Porter didn't give him a chance to work out of the jam. That outing might unfairly skew Peacock's body of work of late. Plus, he's a hard pitcher to give up on because he strikes out so many hitters, about eight per nine innings. Among Astros starters, only Collin McHugh averages more strikeouts per nine innings at about 10.

But now there's a roster crunch.

Lefty Brett Oberholtzer, who matched Scott Kazmir for seven innings on Tuesday night in Oakland, looks ready to return to the rotation after spending the last 11/2 months on the shuttle between the majors and minors. McHugh is ready to be activated from the disabled list after making a rehab start Tuesday, and that leaves two pitchers for one spot: Oberholtzer and Peacock.

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